USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Rapid City, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Possession of a Stolen Firearm and Receipt of a Firearm While Under Indictment.
Huya Smoke, age 19, was indicted on August 19, 2021. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann on August 25, 2021, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.
The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in custody and/or a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.
The charge stems from Smoke knowingly being in possession of a stolen 9mm semi-automatic pistol in Rapid City in April 2021. At the time, Smoke was also under indictment in Meade County, South Dakota. The charges are merely an accusation and Smoke is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Rapid City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson is prosecuting the case.
Smoke was detained pending trial. A trial date has not been set.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
ATF is the federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating violations of the federal firearms and explosives laws and regulations. More information about ATF and its programs can be found at www.atf.gov.
Am I missing something? Why is this news worthy? Is there some backstory here I don’t know about?
There is more to the story, he was arrested for reckless discharge of a firearm after police were called on Aug 5th for reports of gunfire in an apartment complex, he was also recorded on video doing it which was posted to Facebook. They found that the gun was stolen after the fact and charged him with being in possession of a stolen firearm. You can find the story in local Rapid City news. This guy is no upstanding citizen and I’m sure he won’t hesitate to do the same thing again after wasting our tax payer dollars for the… Read more »
Most people who committed murder don’t actually serve ten years.
Do you find it strange that the federal government got involved to charge this person with a “gun crime” that could carry a 10 year sentence?
What happens when the “gun crime” is possession of an unregistered semiautomatic rifle?
I should have read to the bottom of the article, he was also charged with burglary and aggravated assault at the same time as reckless discharge of a firearm.
It’s newsworthy because the BATFE got involved. It’s newsworthy because local enforcers cooperated with the BATFE (yet again). Burglary, theft, aggravated assault, and reckless & dangerous behavior are all crimes that should be dealt with locally. There is no reason for the federal government to get involved. People should be somewhat skeptical that Smoke even committed any of those crimes. Government employees lie. It’s newsworthy because it is yet another example of what is coming – your local “rural sheriff” will cooperate with the BATFE on future registration/confiscation laws, unless there are laws that prohibit them from doing so and… Read more »
If you steel something you are a thief. If you are in possession of stolen gear knowingly, then you are guilty of that also. Those laws have been on the books since Moses Looks to me like the atfe wants their attaboy award here just because the stolen item was a firearm. As far as firearm ownership goes, the RIGHT of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed thus, the atfe is actually criminal to the points of tyranny and treason, both of which carry a very final penalty. ANY law that goes against the constitution,… Read more »
F**k the atf and their extended families.
Why does ammoland dignify these assholes?
I don’t give one crap about their public relations pronouncements.
they should be on the express train to hell
GET RID OF THIS COLUMN
STOP PROMOTING ATF
REMEMBER WACO
Are you sure they are “dignifiying” the BATFE?
Maybe they are just showing people that local law enforcement has a long history of cooperating with the BATFE and are likley to coninue doing so when a federal law requiring registration of semiautomatic rifles is passed.
Maybe posting these articles is intended to motiviate people to pass laws that prohibit their local law enforcement from cooperating with federal enforcers to enforce new federal gun laws.
From the article:
“The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Rapid City Police Department.”
And the flagellation of the deceased aquiline continues anon
Why did the ATF get involved with a single gun crime in Rapid City when 2000 have been shot this year in Chicago and no news of the ATF investigating?!?!?!?!?!?!
Ask the Rapid City Police Department, who cooperated with the BATFE.
“The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Rapid City Police Department.”
There are posters here who insist local enforcers will not cooperate with federal enforcers to enforce future gun laws.
Local enforcers have cooperated, are cooperating, and will continue to cooperate with federal enforcers (even when the time comes for registration/confiscation), unless state law prohibts them from cooperating and unless state law removes their qualified immunity if they violate that law, and unless the state is prohibited from paying for the enforcers’ attorneys as well as any settlements/damage awards.
atf attempting to look like good guy ,locals contacted feds to check if stolen feds jump in because either was stolen in another state or from an ffl i do think we need a federal agency to help recover stolen property but the atf should be in the shi tcan of history and many of its members deported to canada or jailed their property dispersed to people illegally attacked for defending their rights
Couldn’t the local enforcers have obtained the necessary information by accessing a database of stolen firearms?
I think we already have too many federal agencies, and each agency has too many people in it.
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